I couldn't find a specific thread for this, so I thought it would be fine to start the discussion.

Mine was as expected. After my experience at the Christmas Day Mass, I had the same expectations for Easter, as I was told of the "holiday Catholics" that come on those two days alone. As my mother and I entered the nave, we were greeted by a large (large for this church) crowd, with many people standing. My mother and I spotted two seats in a pew, but as we approached and asked if we could sit down, the man said that he was 'saving them' for someone else (I'm not sure if that person ever came, but I didn't pay attention). After we could not find any other seats, we — like many others at this Mass — had to stand (after awhile, I started to feel nauseous with the heat and the standing that as soon as we started the Eucharistic preparation, I kneeled alongside the members of the congregation that were in the pew to get some relief).

Not many people talked, and only a few babies cried, this time around, but it was relatively expected given my previous experience at Christmas. Despite this circumstances, it still felt like a very beautiful Mass, and seeing the flowers (white, yellow, and blue) decorated around the altar and the statue of Our Lady was beautiful indeed. I could not see (because of my height) the new members of the Church receiving the Eucharist, but it sounded very solemn and beautiful. There was also a cross (with no corpus) in front of the statue of Our Lady, with a white sheet draped on it. I must say, though, that I was still sad that I felt annoyed once more at Mass, feeling such a way in front of Our Lord, but I felt like I could not help it. It was still a nice Mass despite some unfortunate happenings, so I will look toward the positives (one of my Lenten promises).

Awesome!
The church was near packed by the time I got there fifteen minutes early,
but a kindly man and his wife allowed me to sit on the end where I could see.
Which was a major blessing in other ways, too ... because I had the privilege of
having the pastor light my Easter vigil candle,
and I got sprinkled with actual physical holy water,
which I could then offer as a special blessing for my godchild.
A younger priest was the one officially saying the Mass,
it was his first Easter Vigil, so he made a few mistakes,
but all of us dealt with it in good humor, and so did the pastor.
There was much beauty,
the Church was filled with God's presence,
and there was
a baptism
and three more entering full communion as Catholics.
I cried a little bit at all the beauty so that I had to blow my nose,
which is why I think a couple of people preferred not to shake my hand
at the greeting of peace, because they thought I might have a cold,
meanwhile, everyone was courteous.
For the big crowd, everyone was reverently silent ...
well, of course you had the one toddler who had to make a
comment in a booming voice when everything got quiet all of a sudden! :)

Overall, I felt this Easter Vigil Mass
was a profoundly beautiful blessing
after a particularly hard and challenging Lent.

After we could not find any other seats, we — like many others at this Mass — had to stand (after awhile, I started to feel nauseous with the heat and the standing that as soon as we started the Eucharistic preparation, I kneeled alongside the members of the congregation that were in the pew to get some relief).

Sorry you had to endure that. There have been times when I’ve come extremely close to fainting under similar conditions. If I were you, I probably would have ended up sitting on the floor if I started experiencing the symptoms you were, and maybe I would have needed to ask for help, because passing out in public is not fun.

Hope you are feeling better now,
and I wish you a Happy Easter Day and season!

[quote="the_phoenix, post:4, topic:321035"]
Sorry you had to endure that. There have been times when I've come extremely close to fainting under similar conditions. If I were you, I probably would have ended up sitting on the floor if I started experiencing the symptoms you were, and maybe I would have needed to ask for help, because passing out in public is not fun.

Hope you are feeling better now,
and I wish you a Happy Easter Day and season!

~~ the phoenix

[/quote]

After I kneeled (I hope that's a word; I've read it before but I'm not sure!), I felt better. I know what you are talking of though! A number of years ago, I was in a school "choir" for a show about the solar system, and combining the standing and the heat caused me to vomit (no one, but one student next to me on stage, noticed, however, and I had my teacher escort me offstage). Thank you!

Wow. I'm so surprised there was such few baptisms and confirmations at your masses! I was confirmed 2 years ago and we had what I thought was a lot, but this year, I didn't count. I believe it was 2 or 3 pews full of people who got baptized, and then at least 2 more pews of the people who are to get confirmed in May. (I forgot what the title of these people are -catecumen and canidate, I don't remember which one is which.) And we live in a relatively small town/city, btw. It takes no more than 10 minutes to drive from one end of town to the other, so it's wonderful to see so many converts and others coming into the faith. Anyway. I went to both, actually. My sponsors, or as I call them, my godparents wanted to go to both, so last night we got to the Easter vigil mass 30 minutes early. We found our seats easily, but the church did get packed once everyone got there. We were given candles for the procession, but we did not go outside of the church like most everyone else because my godfather was short of breath last night just getting in the church from the car, but we lit the candles as they passed us in the isle. The readings and psalms went by fast. I enjoyed them all and spent much of the time reflecting. By the time we got to the Gloria, I thought "the Gloria already?" It was a powerful moment. I love the music and how the lights turn on for the risen Christ. I was very surprised to see how many people there were to be baptized. Many were older kids, but there were teens and adults, too. By the time we got to the Eurcharist, I thought "That was it?" It just went by so fast. I didn't expect the time to go by so quickly. I was swept away in a new devotion to Jesus. It was beautiful. Then afterwards I went to a party with my bible study friends and we ate junk food and played games until almost 1am. Then I went home and went to sleep after 2am, only to get up at 7:30 to be at the 8:30 mass. Normally, my godparents pick me up at 8, but this morning they were 10 minutes early, so I was scrabbling trying to fix myself up. (I did wear a different dress than last night.) I finished putting myself together in the car. When we got to church mass had just been dismissed as we got out of the car, so we said our hellos to the 7am mass people that we know and found a seat quite easily, but once everyone got there many were outside listening to mass. The morning mass wasn't nearly as beautiful or powerful as last nights, but I still got stuff out of it. I love mass, period. Although, I heard the same sermon, twice. Which I thought was funny, but I got stuff out of it, today, too. Although, I think my priest did it better last night. :) All in all, I enjoyed both and I'm glad I went to both of them to get both experiences. I was also at the end of the pew, so I got some holy water on me, which was a pleasant surprise. I still have the Alleluia, Alleluia song stuck in my head from the end of mass.:D

[quote="Immacolata, post:6, topic:321035"]
After I kneeled (I hope that's a word; I've read it before but I'm not sure!), I felt better. I know what you are talking of though! A number of years ago, I was in a school "choir" for a show about the solar system, and combining the standing and the heat caused me to vomit (no one, but one student next to me on stage, noticed, however, and I had my teacher escort me offstage). Thank you!

Mass was lovely. We arrived 15 minutes early so we can get our regular seats.;) It wasn't nearly as crowed as Christmas though. For Christmas, we had to stand, which was no big deal, but what really annoyed me was there were elderly folks standing in the back while the pews were filled with younger people. Luckily, one of the ushers found a chair for one elderly gentlemen who was standing next to me.

very beautiful, it felt fantastic to honour the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ even though I do not yet have salvation in his name. I am going to ask the Parish Priest about RCIA soon as I feel ready to start walking the path to joining his (Our Lord Jesus Christ) Church.

My mom, husband and I got there 10 minutes early for the 9:30 Mass, but it was already packed, so we went over to the parish life center, where the 9:45 Mass was (smart thinking on the parish's part). That Mass was quickly filling up too. The children's choir sang and did a pretty good job. It was a pretty simple Mass, being outside of the church, but it was great to me. I got tears in my eyes hearing the Gospel and in the homily the priest mentioned Pope Francis kissing and holding a disabled man. The prayer for the dead in the prayers of the faithful had special meaning for me because my great-grandmother passed away this morning.

[quote="marcaevans, post:11, topic:321035"]
very beautiful, it felt fantastic to honour the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ even though I do not yet have salvation in his name. I am going to ask the Parish Priest about RCIA soon as I feel ready to start walking the path to joining his (Our Lord Jesus Christ) Church.

[/quote]

Congradulations!

[quote="anp1215, post:11, topic:321035"]

The prayer for the dead in the prayers of the faithful had special meaning for me because my great-grandmother passed away this morning.

I couldn’t find a specific thread for this, so I thought it would be fine to start the discussion.

Mine was as expected. After my experience at the Christmas Day Mass, I had the same expectations for Easter, as I was told of the “holiday Catholics” that come on those two days alone. As my mother and I entered the nave, we were greeted by a large (large for this church) crowd, with many people standing. My mother and I spotted two seats in a pew, but as we approached and asked if we could sit down, the man said that he was ‘saving them’ for someone else (I’m not sure if that person ever came, but I didn’t pay attention). After we could not find any other seats, we — like many others at this Mass — had to stand (after awhile, I started to feel nauseous with the heat and the standing that as soon as we started the Eucharistic preparation, I kneeled alongside the members of the congregation that were in the pew to get some relief).

Not many people talked, and only a few babies cried, this time around, but it was relatively expected given my previous experience at Christmas. Despite this circumstances, it still felt like a very beautiful Mass, and seeing the flowers (white, yellow, and blue) decorated around the altar and the statue of Our Lady was beautiful indeed. I could not see (because of my height) the new members of the Church receiving the Eucharist, but it sounded very solemn and beautiful. There was also a cross (with no corpus) in front of the statue of Our Lady, with a white sheet draped on it. I must say, though, that I was still sad that I felt annoyed once more at Mass, feeling such a way in front of Our Lord, but I felt like I could not help it. It was still a nice Mass despite some unfortunate happenings, so I will look toward the positives (one of my Lenten promises).

Happy Easter, everyone! Christ is Risen!

Why sentence after sentence of resentment?

Those twice a year Catholics are the most important people in the pews. it’s our job to pray they come back and resume regular practice.

Why so many complaints? Is the church yours and must everything and everyone there be mindful of your needs and expectations? Feeling “annoyed” is your choice. The priests or parish or other attendees didn’t annoy you. You allowed yourself to become annoyed because your will wasn’t being done. And NEVER resent babies in Church, crying or not! God loves babies and little children in Church. If God didn’t really love babies, he would never have chosen to become one himself.

Forget yourself, love those around you. Jesus is risen! That’s the only thing that matters.

As Music Director, I was requried to attend--and play for--all 4 of ours (8 PM Vigil; 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 morning). The Vigil and the 11:00 Sunday Masses had as principal celebrant the Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis, who is in residence at my parish. So that was really nice.

All of our Masses went well, with the two later ones filled beyond capacity (with I'd say around 50 people standing in the back). We had incense at every Mass, which I love. And my choir did a fantatsic job with the music for the Vigil and the 9:00 (most of the Sunday music was carried over from the vigil, so that made it a bit easier on my part!) :D I give them credit for coming back for "double duty"!

Our Easter Vigil was wonderful! We did all of the readings, and I didn't find it tiring at all. I was sitting next to a man who has a mental illness, and he was shouting for joy and singing loudly, and clapping the whole way through - he was so much fun! :)

We also brought seven new Catholics into full communion. There were going to be nine, but two of them had set-backs and they were not able to finish this year.

No Vigil this year, we have some kids with the flu, so my wife and I are 'tag teaming' Masses this morning. I went to the 11:30 Mass and she is off at the 1:30 Mass

The 11:30 Mass is in a non-English language, so it was just the regular attendees ( about 2./3 full). Vigil last nite was standing room only, 8 people were brought into the Church ( Confirmations and Holy Communions only, as they had been Baptized in other ecclesial communities)

I arrived a bit early for Mass, and people were still socializing after the 9:30 Mass. I heard it was packed, but everyone was able to find a seat with the use of the 'overflow' area - a room that is normally a large meeting room, but with a glass window into the Nave and overhead speakers to hear the Mass.

As one being baptized (along with my wife and 20 mos. old son), we have taken full advantage of all that Holy Week has had to offer and, it felt like we had been at our Church more than at home...lol. We had about 134 people at Vigil last night with the 3 of us being baptized (my son took it like a champ and was actually very behaved for the entire 2.5 hours of Mass). It was very beautiful and emotional, and we will attend this Mass every year as well as the Easter Sunday Mass going forward.!

Our Easter Vigil was amazing! There were seven persons baptized and five of us being received into full communion. I didn’t fall down the steps and I didn’t drop the chalice, two things I was nervous about :rolleyes: